Perfume dispensers are known in the art. Many perfume dispensers are bulky and unsuitable for convenient storage in small purses, handbags, and the like. One solution is to provide a perfume dispenser that is conveniently sized for storage in a purse or handbag. The small size of such a perfume dispenser, however, limits the amount of liquid perfume that it can store. Therefore, it is often desirable that these smaller perfume dispensers (hereinafter referred to as child device) have the ability to be refilled from a larger reservoir. Such reservoirs are typically also provided in the form of a perfume dispenser that also has the ability to apply an atomized perfume when desired, thereby providing a convenient applicator for use in the home (hereinafter referred to as the parent device).
Some examples of refilling systems are described in WO 02/052977, WO 05/101969, U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,680 and WO2010094963. Whilst these devices may be satisfactory for their intended purpose, a continuing challenge is to provide a perfume dispenser that can atomize a liquid perfume for application by a user, which is travel sized and can be conveniently and easily refilled from another larger parent reservoir without undesirable spilling or accidental discharge of the liquid perfume during the refilling process. In particular, currently available refill perfume systems have a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the refilling process typically involves at the least the partial disassembly of the actuator of the atomizer of parent device, by the user to reveal the pump stem prior to its insertion into the base of the child device. This is both inconvenient and messy for the consumer and may also result in inadvertent damage to the parent actuator which may prevent its subsequent effective functioning. Secondly, the refilling systems also utilize the pump of the parent as the refill mechanism for the child device. Since the parent pump is designed to dispense a standard single perfume dose directly to a user, a single actuation thereof will not completely fill a child device. Consequently, refilling of the child requires multiple parent pump activation steps by the consumer in order to completely refill the child device. Again, this is inconvenient and time consuming for the user. Moreover it also requires a degree of dexterity in order to hold the devices securely during the refilling process. Nevertheless the use of these devices may still also result in spillage onto the parent and or child device, adjacent surfaces and users' hands themselves further exacerbating the possibility of inadvertently releasing the hold of the devices and spillage.
Alternative refill systems require the partial disassembly of the child device and the use of a funnel to decant the liquid from the parent reservoir to the child device. Such devices also suffer from problems of potential spillage and mess as discussed above.
Other refill systems function by the incorporation of a suction pump such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,863,093 and EP2335833. These systems must be provided with a prefilled child device, whereby a vacuum is generated in the child device as the liquid is evacuated during use. However in order to enable subsequent refilling, the vacuum must be generated consistently upon expulsion of the liquid from the child reservoir. Typically, such devices are unable to maintain a vacuum over time and the child device can therefore no longer be refilled and reused. Moreover, such devices also require partial disassembly and accurate docking between the parent and child device in order to prevent inadvertent damage to the vacuum rendering the mechanism and child device redundant.
WO2010/094963 describes an automated refill system comprising a bellows pump, whereby the child device is refilled upon coupling to the parent device. Such systems are however complex to manufacturer and require specialized materials for the bellows in order to function with fragrance compositions.
Thus, there is still a need to provide a perfume refill system whereby the child device can be readily refilled from a parent device without the necessity to disassemble the parent device and or child thereby reducing inconvenience and mess and which also does not require multiple parent pump activations in order to refill the child device completely. Moreover, the system should enable simple, preferably intuitive docking of the child to the parent. There is also a need for a system, the construction of which does not result in a complex manufacturing process.